


December 16: guided by a beating heart

by dizzy



Series: farewell and gtfo 2016 daily fic advent [16]
Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 03:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8874517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: prompt: "A continuation of the homeless!CC fic????"





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is not the kind of continuation you were looking for, anon. What this is instead is the first 450 words in my "homeless au part two" document. I only worked on it in bits and pieces, so most of what is there is disjointed and more like a detailed outline than an actual story. I can't honestly say if it's a fic I'll ever finish or not, but this gives you some vague idea of how it would have gone.

Sex is a struggle. 

Darren would love to be having it, but there aren’t many things they can do and even fewer places to do them. 

He could probably find some back alley to blow Chris in if he wanted, but he doesn’t want that. Chris deserves better and Darren won’t take advantage of the trust Chris has in him. 

They’re closer in other ways. Physical intimacy, to them, is the warmth of bodies curled together on a cold sidewalk. It’s holding hands in the park while they watch children play. It’s kisses to foreheads and cheeks, it’s affection that grounds them and gives them the only small pleasures life seems willing to afford them right now. 

They quickly learn that sex is something they can live without, but to have each other? That’s the true necessity. 

*

Sometimes Darren thinks he sees a familiar face in shifting crowds. His mind just plays tricks on him. A head of black hair, a smile - 

And then one day it isn’t a trick. 

Across the street and down a few people, there he is. 

Chuck. 

* 

Darren doesn’t tell Chris. 

Chris knows he has a brother. Chris knows Darren’s whole story, even the parts that not many other people know. 

The last time Darren saw his brother, Chuck was swearing he’d do whatever he could to keep Darren safe. It was one in a million other promises Darren is sure people meant to keep. 

Darren doesn’t tell Chris about seeing Chuck because he doesn’t want it to sound like a promise he can’t keep. 

*

Darren is not an optimist. 

Darren is a realist determined to make the most of a shitty situation, because he understands that happiness as a goal is more achievable when the people around you are happy as well. 

He’s developed a lot of skill sets on the street. He can play and sing and project his voice to best suit a crowd. He can find the people most likely to throw money into his case and hone his charms toward them. He can coax food out of restaurant workers and clean socks out of store employees. He is an actor with enough skill to his name to convince the people around him of the things it most benefits him for them to believe. 

It’s selfish, really. It’s self-preservation. Darren needs a reason to laugh and smile through the misery. The more the people Darren surrounds himself with find hope and faith in an impossible situation, the more Darren can leech that sentiment from them. 

When Chris talks about the future, about the places they’ll go and the things they’ll see and how Darren will put out an album and Chris will write wonderful books Darren almost believes him.


End file.
